Joaquin Phoenix Shaves, Goes Back on Letterman

Joaquin Phoenix (the artist formerly known as the rapper J.P., formerly known as the actor Joaquin Phoenix) returned to the Late Show with David Letterman last night after an infamous appearance a year and a half ago. At the time Mr. Phoenix was in the middle of filming what seemed like a documentary, I’m Still Here, which was mostly a half-hearted hoax about Mr. Phoenix trying to launch a rap career. “We wanted to do a film that explored celebrity and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves,” Mr. Phoenix told Mr. Letterman on the show last night.

Casey Affleck, the film’s director and Mr. Phoenix’s brother-in-law, told The New York Times last week that the film was totally artificial. “We wanted to create a space,” Mr. Affleck said. “You believe what’s happening is real.” Except Mr. Affleck revealed that the film was not an authentic documentary only one week after it was released, so if that space — the space to believe — ever existed, Mr. Affleck pretty much ruined it. The Observer saw the film over the weekend, knowing it was fake, and it was just sort of weird. Lots of looking at our watch. And a few laughs!